Her appearance is sponsored by the Five College Women's Studies Research Center, the Odyssey Bookshop and the Department of Gender Studies at Mount Holyoke College.

Doors open at 6 p.m.

Maddow will read from her new book, "Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power," in she argues that the United States has drifted away from its original ideals and become a nation oddly at peace with perpetual war, with all the financial and human costs that entails.

"Rachel Maddow is truly a role model for women who are dedicated to examining the issues that drive public discourse. Her insistence on informed debate is one of the cornerstones of engaged feminism as a model for exchange across political and cultural differences," said Mount Holyoke professor Karen Remmler, director of the research center.

Tickets for this event are $5 and go on sale March 1 at the Odyssey Bookshop and online at www.odysseybks.com.

A limited number of priority tickets, which include the general admission ticket, a copy of Drift, and a guaranteed signing by Maddow, are available for $31.50.

The college Office of Student Programs will also make available a limited number of free tickets to students for the second balcony. Tickets will be available at the on a first-come, first-served basis beginning Wednesday at the information desk in Blanchard Campus Center. Tickets will be given out one per student to each person with a Mount Holyoke ID.

After reading from her book, Maddow will conduct a book signing for copies of her book for purchased at the Odyssey. There is a limit of three autographs per person.

Partial proceeds from this event will support new initiatives on women and the media at the Five College Women's Studies Research Center.

Maddow is a former morning personality at Northampton’s WRSI, 93.9 FM. She still has ties to the region as she and partner Susan Mikula share a home in Western Massachusetts.

For more information, contact Sydney Towne at the Odyssey at 413-534-7307, extension 103 or odysseynews@aol.com.